28/10/2025: ANNOUNCEMENT
We are excited to announce a brand new podcast series: Uprising: The Civil Wars. Produced by HistFest Productions for the HistoryExtra podcast, this six-part series delves into the brutal conflicts that erupted across England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in the mid-seventeenth century.
Hosted by historian Rebecca Rideal and executive produced by Lucie Ridout, the narrative podcast blends expert interviews with original testimony performed by actors, guiding listeners through the pivotal events – from the first battles in Scotland, to resistance and rebellion in Ireland, and the all-out war in England and Wales. Through conversations with leading historical experts, Rideal uncovers a gripping story of shifting loyalties, changing times, and devastating conflict.
Series contributors include Waseem Ahmed, Dr Jonathan Healey, Professor Andrew Hopper, Dr Andrew Lind, Dr Miranda Malins, Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, and Dr Eryn White. The historical consultant is Dr Charlotte Parsonson-Young.
The series premieres on 28 October 2025, with new episodes released weekly thereafter. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Production Team for HistFest
Lucie Ridout – Executive Producer
Lucie Ridout is an Executive Producer specialising is strong narrative led documentaries with over two decades of experience. Her credits span globally across broadcast and streamer to include; Disney+, Hulu, Discovery +, Investigation Discovery, National Geographic, PBS, BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, France 5 and Arte.
Recent work includes Disaster at Sea, The Piper Alpha Story, Lucy Worsley Investigates and Secrets and Spies: A Nuclear Game. Lucie has a reputation for delivering on complex projects from large co-productions with tight deadlines like Generation 9/11 (PBS/Channel /Arte) to box sets like Who Killed Biggie and Tupac (Discovery +) and Positive (Sky Documentaries). Lucie’s work has been shortlisted and nominated by the Grierson Trust, Edinburgh TV Awards, Broadcast Digital Awards, Broadcast Tech Innovation, Venice TV Awards and the Royal Television Society.
Charlotte Parsonson-Young – Historical Consultant
Dr Charlotte Parsonson-Young has a PhD in early modern history from Royal Holloway, University of London. She was the postdoctoral researcher attached to the Civil War Petitions project, and a Contributing Editor (early modern) for Northamptonshire VCH before joining Oxford Lifelong Learning as a Departmental Tutor in History. She is also the Professor of History for Wake Forest University’s London study abroad programme, and the Vice Chair of the Cromwell Association. Her upcoming biography of John Bradshawe, the judge who sentenced Charles I to death, will be published in 2026.
Rebecca Rideal – Host and Producer
Rebecca Rideal is a historian, award-winning producer, and the director of HistFest. Specialising in the early modern period, she is the author of, 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire, and the forthcoming biography of the Stuarts, God’s Throne. She spent over a decade in factual television, developing, producing and consulting on a range of documentaries and series, including Escape from Nazi Death Camp, BBC’s Reporting History: Mandela and a New South Africa, the triple Emmy-winning David Attenborough’s First Life, Bloody Tales of the Tower, and Adventurer’s Guide to Britain.
Rebecca has also produced four seasons of the Signal award-winning podcast Mind of a Monster. A regular contributor to national press and radio, she’s a departmental tutor at the University of Oxford’s Lifelong Learning and lectures at leading cultural institutions.